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Police: Children found in filthy conditions in Manchester; father arrested

MANCHESTER, N.H. (WHDH) - A man was arrested in Manchester, New Hampshire after police said they found his two young children living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Police said they responded to an apartment at 3:40 a.m. on Monday after receiving a report that 26-year-old James Grenier was in danger of harming himself. Officers on scene spoke with Grenier, who said he was not in danger of harming himself. Police asked to check on the condition of his two children and entered his apartment.

Police said the children were in “extremely unsanitary and unsafe conditions.” The children, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, were allegedly living among a fly-infested apartment with food on the counters and both human and animal feces throughout the floors. The children and furniture were also allegedly found covered in human excrement.

Officials removed the children from the home and placed them in the care of their grandparents and the Department of Child and Family Services was notified.

Grenier was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of reckless conduct. The children’s mother, Samantha Grenier, said she was not living at the apartment at the time and blamed her husband for “using the TV as a baby-sitter.”

“My kids mean everything to me and I love them and I did try to do things to protect them,” said Samantha Grenier. She said her husband “overpowered” her when she tried helping her children.

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